Raskalov, Chantalai and a group of twenty soldiers were headed east, crossing the dangerous wastelands. Chantalai thought traveling with others was much more relaxing, as they kept him company. The loneliness from before had vanished; now he could get his mind off his father with conversation. Raskalov, Chantalai and two of his men, a Raichu and an Absol were walking in the front of the group, discussing the Dark Cult's rapid influence over Stygia.

'... and to think they have already conquered Erca! That's their first step towards US, Raskalov. Erca is in the tip of this wasteland to the south - now they can and will move to the north.'

The Raichu seemed to be nervous and worried, a behaviour not fitting for a soldier of the Frontier. Chantalai himself disapproved it, although he fully understood the fears of his ally. Raskalov managed to calm him down.

'No, Erca is not lost yet. They may have spoiled it rotten, those Dark Cult cowards, but the people are free from their grasp. They may be roaming the streets, poisoning them with their ill ways, but there is still hope... right, Chantalai?'

The Weavile nudged Chantalai's arm who seemed to be staring at the ground. The Zoroark jerked his head, his enormous mane swishing through the air, almost scaring them with his look. 'Yes, all is not lost,' he said quietly, now staring back at where he was walking. The Absol behind him spoke up.

'How about you go there, Chantalai? If any of us shows up there, we'll get killed, but you can go unnoticed.'

'.. they don't know about any Zoroarks or your special abilities. Your kind is not known to Hesperians. Because they're basically Hesperians, those from the Dark Cult.'

Chantalai nodded with his red eyes still fixed on the ground and a serious expression spread across his face. He had read about the Hesperian Empire on the history books. They thought they looked so nice in their golden armours that were worth fortunes, Chantalai mocked them for their foolishness. But since they were the enemies of their enemies, the Dark Cult, they could as well be their ally. Not like it mattered now - their enemies were unstoppable, way too powerful even for the small, inexperienced army of Hesperia or their Ionian Verdict.

'What do you think of the Hesperian Ionian Verdict? Could they help us in any way?'

Raskalov, who was peering over the horizon for any signs of the distant forest at the moment, glanced at the Zoroark. 'The Ionian Verdict is entirely focusing on keeping the peace inside the Hesperian Empire - they will have no interest in fussing over with our problems,' he said grimly. 'Although they are an extremely powerful lot, highly trained elites of combat and such, they still would not be enough to match the Dark Cult's forces. They're just too many!'

'Yeah, they were supposed to be preserving the peace in their Empire, but they failed. The Dark Cult rose inside it and they thought they should just kick it out, transferring the problem to us!' shouted the Raichu, disgusted. The Absol sighed. Chantalai thought this was true; the Ionian Verdict could have eliminated the Dark Cult if they wanted to, but their philosophy was to keep as many Pokemon alive as Pokemon, as commanded by the Hesperian King.

'And how did the Dark Cult gain so much power in so little time? They were only migrating from Hesperia, and they managed to gather so much army in just a decade,' Chantalai blurted out. He was still not fully aware of the details of the War of the Frontier, as Krept was in the far northern parts of Stygia where the Dark Cult had never set foot on, until recently.

'They conquered all of southern Stygia. But I shouldn't call it Stygia - the Pokemon in those parts did not acknowledge our nation, and contested as they were between us and Hesperia, they were easy to bow the Dark Cult's rule. The Pokemon of the south, great in numbers, joined the Dark Cult under its religion, directed by that filth, Ali Kemal the 'Prophet'. He drives them into a 'sacred' war of expansion of their religion against us, making us face all this! I doubt Stygia will ever be the same, we might even get completely destroyed!'

Chantalai continued to walk without saying a word, lost in his thoughts. He had now abandoned his old self, having finally accepted that his village was forever lost. He had left everything behind, suppressing his feelings of sorrow and sadness for his father's death, and was starting to become focused on his revenge. That alone started a massive change inside him.

Raskalov shouted he saw the first trees of the sparse forest that was unfolded up ahead.

***

The hot season was over and the flora of this strange world was blooming, only to be burned down by the snow that was coming. The cold aura of the trees hit the soldiers, who were now walking on surprisingly lush grass.The conversations had ended by the order of Raskalov; the enemy could be lurking anywhere. The leader send Chantalai to scout for them ahead, as he was the most agile one, and quite capable of climbing onto trees and leaping from one another, using their leaves as coverage. Before he left, they agreed on the signals of moving forward and stopping.

The Zoroark bolted from the group, the soldiers admiring his speed. He jumped onto a rock, dashed up a fallen tree log and leaped into the air, grabbing a tree branch and pulling himself up. He glanced behind him at the slow-moving group of Pokemon; they seem nervous, Chantalai thought as he leaped again towards another branch. The leaves were yellow, red and green coloured as they always were this season - they made a lot of noise when someone stepped on them. Chantalai suddenly stopped, staying put in the branch in a strange owling position his father had taught him. He perked up his ears and looked to the southeast, his eyes half shut. He was hearing the ramble of the feet of multiple Pokemon moving about fifty feet away - he immediately whistled like a Chatot to signal his allies to stop with his heart racing.

Chantalai, who was sitting on his ankles, maintaining his balance on the thin branch of the tree, possessed a menacing figure that none would notice unless they looked up. But the Pokemon he had heard seemed to be moving away from their position, and indeed after some moments the ramble weakened and weakened until it was completely lost amongst the other sounds of the forest. He performed the Starly signal with his teeth and he heard his allies walking behind him, and they coordinated their path onto the forest towards Hermes' camp.

***

The nation's flags were racing against the cold wind, the East Camp looked exactly like the South Camp in the wastelands, both inside and outside. Many grey tents with the X and the three stars under it were surrounded by pointy wooden logs. The only difference was that this camp was on top of a small hill but was still massively covered by the thick trees. Chantalai and the others were greeted by the guards who seemed like normal soldiers, only more agile due to living in the forest.
Hermes, an armoured Pidgeot walked up to them once they were inside they camp. He was wearing a piece of armour with a special design onto his wings, which was shining beautifully under the moonlight. Raskalov, Chantalai and Hermes formed a small circle.

'Commander Raskalov, my friend! It's been a long time!'

The Weavile looked happy to see the Pidgeot, and Chantalai couldn't help but notice Hermes's hearty smile. With his eyes fixed on the Pidgeot's beak, he evaluated his personality in seconds; he seemed like a relaxed Pokemon from the lack of movement and the tone of his voice. He also detected a certain swag that was fascinated. He had already started liking him.

'Indeed, Commander Hermes. How are things over here, in the East Camp?'

Hermes folded his wings tighter onto his body, and glanced at the great tent next to him. The entire East Camp was behind him, staring at Raskalov and Chantalai; they were wearing red capes with the symbol of the nation and bronze armours. Obviously, they had never seen a Zoroark before.

'Why don't you come in?'

Raskalov looked over at Chantalai who crossed his arms and stared at the Pidgeot. His stance seemed to surprise the Weavile, for some reason. Chantalai appeared more mature and focused to the cause, now that he had agreed to take on the job of a spy. But it was more than that, Chantalai was now giving the impression of a killer, even though he had not killed many Pokemon before.

'I have.. an ally over here, that I'd like you to meet. It's Chantalai Ancelotti from Krept. I believe his powers can come in handy to us; he has offered to work as a spy.'

Hermes stared at Chantalai from head to toe, possibly measuring him. He flapped his wings as he said, 'I see, I see!' and walked over to the tent, the other two following him. The tent did not seem like what Chantalai had expected; it was actually a hole in the ground, with stairs leading onto the floor. The tent made it seem like a small cave - the Pidgeot spread his armoured wings and flew over to hang from an opening in the wall. The other two climbed down the stairs. Chantalai was impressed by the armour that did not affect his ability to fly, but before he could ask anything about it, the Pidgeot started speaking.

'They are closing in, Raskalov. The Dark Cult took the pitiful Pokemon of the south and turned them into bloodthirsty warriors. My sources are telling me that these warriors we're fighting against were just their trainees... I can't imagine how their elite warriors are like. They're gonna crush us like bugs, Raskalov!'

Chantalai knew that Hermes was confident, despite his words. The Weavile grabbed his chin and paced around before answering with a serious voice.

'No, not if we can outwit them... I'm sure that Ramos is mostly relying on his power, and not tactics.'

'I still don't see how we can turn this around. Even with you here, we won't be able to cope with their power. They already outnumber us one to three!'

'Yes, but we have a secret weapon... Do you know what's a Zoroark?' Raskalov said with a tricky smile on his face. Chantalai remained silent, Hermes seemed confused.

'What? Zoroark?'

'Zoroark. They are species from the far north. I hear they possess amazing abilities, which help them conceal things. They make great spies, because they hide so well!'

Hermes seemed fascinated. He looked over to Chantalai with interest and asked him, 'Would you demonstrate your powers for us, then?'

The Zoroark kept silent again, only a faint smile appearing onto his face. He was going to surprise them - his claws snapped together, making a metallic sound that sounded extremely strange for some reason. The next second, flames appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Chantalai - from the gaps of the fire, he could clearly see their amazed faces.

'Is this real...? What am I seeing?'

Chantalai spoke for the first time, his voice seeming unused for a while.

'No, it's not real,' he said and pointed at the Pidgeot on the wall, directing the flames towards him. He almost fell, but as the flames licked his armour, nothing happened. It seemed strange, and the Zoroark did not want his illusions to be proven wrong - the flames disappeared the next instant.

'Amazing!' Raskalov shouted, clapping excited, 'I never knew this was possible! We can fool an entire army with this, Chantalai,' the Zoroark stayed silent again. He clearly was not in the mood. He would rather work alone, like his father had instructed him. He was not just a tool.

'We don't have time - Ramos will attack tomorrow. I suspect he will not bring all of his forces, but they'll still be more than us.'

'I have a plan,' stated Chantalai who had a brilliant idea, 'do you maybe have a pistol?'

Hermes looked at him puzzled, but answered quickly, 'Yeah, we have just one - bought it from the north, but we don't even know how to use it. What're you planning to do with it? I haven't even told you the details of the batt--'

The Zoroark cut him off, 'I don't need any details, just a handgun. Tell your men to be ready for gunfire. And don't worry, I know how to use it.'

***

The next morning, when Chantalai walked out of his personal tent, one of the soldiers gave him a pistol and some packs of bullets saying it was a gift from Commander Hermes. He held it in his hand and aimed at a Starly on top of a tree; but he wasn't going to shoot it as to not cause too much noise. The steel pull and trigger were enticing his claws, he could not wait to try it. He had read all about those technological wonders in a paper his father gave him, but he never told him where he got it. Those pistols were said to be from be coming from a village in the far northeast, close to the Nether Plane.

Raskalov saw him fiddling with the gun and he walked over to him. 'Nice tool, huh? Lumos is quite fond of those things, but I'm not even sure he knows how to use them.' Chantalai looked at the Weavile, surprised. 'So Lumos doesn't know how it works? Who does, then?'

'Nobody knows, Chantalai. They pull that thing backwards but nothing happens.'
Chantalai looked at the gun and the small pack of bullets in his hands. Then he started laughing. He hadn't laughed after his father death and his laugh sounded strange.

'It's not loaded!'

'Huh? Loaded?'

'Look,' he opened the pack and grabbed six bullets, then placed it to the ground and clicked the gun's small hatch open with his claw; he then slid the bullets, one by one inside the gun and closed the hatch.

'See, now it's ready to kill,' he said while picking up the bullets from the ground. As Raskalov was looking at him, stunned of him possessing such knowledge, Hermes approached them from the bonfires.

'So did you figure out how to use it?' asked Hermes with an excited expression on his face.

'Yeah, it was easy.'

'By the way, Chantalai.. we have a few complications with the upcoming battle.'

The Zoroark remained silent, looking at him, provoking him to go on.

'You see, Ramos has those damned air predators that will rip us apart if we don't give them any attention. But they are flying, and we can't do much, we'd only waste time trying to hit them.'

Chantalai seemed to be thinking for a moment, staring down at the ground. Then he spoke.

'Let me take care of those. I will be hiding, ahead of you, and when the fight breaks in, I'll make sure they're silenced forever.'

There was something in Chantalai's tone that frightened the Commanders, and the Zoroark noticed. He knew what he was thinking, are all the Zoroarks like that?

'Uhm, there's one more thing. The soldiers that guard Ramos wear impenetrable armour, meaning we won't be getting to him easily. If you could take those out in the fuss of the battle as well, we might be able to kill their commander without having to go through his small army.'

Chantalai nodded. A plan of action had already begun forming in his mind.

***

The crucial day of the East Camp's war had come. The Stygian natives marched out of the camp, with little to no preparation or any tactic whatsoever; they relied mostly on brutal power. Only the dark ally of the army was taking into account everything. Chantalai's purpose in this battle was to ensure the safety of his own allies by strategically eliminating certain targets - and he was starting to like this whole concept, saving many lives in exchange for a few, hostile ones.

Chantalai was scouting ahead from the group again, atop the cold branches, but this time he did not hear a sound from the forest. The silence was heavy on the hearts of the Stygians; around two hundred Pokemon were marching towards the south. They reached a dangerous point in the forest, somewhere in the middle between the two camps. That area was suitable for an ambush, Chantalai thought. He whistled and the march following him immediately stopped. He perked up his ears again, looking at the darkness between the trees from above. After a while, he realized he was hearing something strange, something coming from the clearing ahead. Many small, continuous noises... breaths. Chantalai panicked for a moment; he stared deeper into the darkness, grabbing the pistol that hung from his belt. Then he looked back at where his allies had stopped, jumped from tree to tree to reach them from above, making sure not to be seen from the sky. Chantalai was sure their enemies would notice they had suddenly stopped. What would happen next? Both sides knew where the other was, did that really favour them? Suddenly, an idea struck him.

He dropped silently in front of Raskalov who was in the lead. The Pokemon soldiers were not startled by his sudden appearance. The Weavile with the golden armour looked at him intently, examining his serious, tightened expression.

'They're waiting for you at the clearing ahead. But I have a plan... stay where you are. When you hear the screams... attack the clearing.'

The face of the Zoroark darkened even more as he saw the horrified and puzzled faces of his allies. He felt like a completely different and independent Pokemon from those he was helping right now; he turned around and sprinted up a tree, dug his claws into its trunk and started climbing up until he was able to reach its branches and blend with the darkness once again. He rushed, traveling from tree to tree, towards the breaths of his enemies, stopping when he saw two Staraptors hiding in the shadows five feet away from him; they surely hadn't noticed him. He could not go any further.

So be it, then.

A marching sound, much louder than the one the Stygians made, was heard from behind the Dark Cult's little army. It sounded like the entire Stygian nation was marching towards their enemies. Many heads were heard turning around, and their breathing getting more intense. Chantalai counted up to three hundred Pokemon in the shadows, all around the clearing. They started to back off from the shadows, slowly filling up the space of the clearing.

The Dark Cult's Pokemon were heavily armoured and seemed extremely dangerous, even when they were startled by Chantalai's illusion. Every one of them wore a black cape with a white heart and two swords crossing it, the symbol of the Dark Cult. Chantalai half shut his eyes, maintaining his owling position on the branch, observing his enemies while concentrating on bringing the sound of his illusion closer. He saw the Staraptors abandoning their positions on top of the trees; they were now flying above the clearing in distress, unsure of what to do. Everything was working perfectly for the Stygians, who had meanwhile moved in the shadows of the clearing, behind the startled and puzzled warriors of the Dark Cult who were staring silently at the south towards the rambling. Meanwhile, Chantalai spotted Ramos, their Commander, a Gengar with a massive silver armour, who was also wielding a long spear with a flag bearing the symbol of the Dark Cult. Chantalai thought he would deal with him later - the Staraptors were first on his list.

Most of the Dark Cult had rounded up the clearing, trying to hide from the enormous army that was supposedly coming from the south. And just then, a horrible, high pitched scream was heard from the middle of the clearing, making every Pokemon flinch. Then, many things happened at once - the noise of the army behind the trees suddenly stopped, Raskalov, Hermes and their army of two hundred struck the Dark Cult from behind and the Zoroark pounced on the nearest Staraptor who was nervously flying about in the air, five feet away from him.

Chantalai grabbed his feet and quickly pulled himself up to the back of the Staraptor. When the Staraptor realized what was happening, it was way too late. The Zoroark stuck his claws into the Staraptor's neck, blood rifts squirting all around. By instinct, he directed the wings left, both of them started to fall towards another Staraptor who was trying to deal with Hermes closer to the ground. The massive armoured Pidgeot was way too powerful for a predator like his enemy; falling at great speed, the black shadow of a Pokemon left the dead Staraptor fall and pounced onto Hermes' opponent, sliding his claws onto his neck with precision while landing on his back.

As the second giant bird started to fall, Chantalai leaped towards Hermes, who grasped him from the dense, dirty fur of his shoulders and carried him higher, where a Staraptor was ready to dive at the Stygians below. The Zoroark snatched his right wing and teared it apart, painting it red with already bloodied claws. They both started to fall to the ground at incredible speed; he pulled himself to the back of the helpless Staraptor, sticking his claws onto the bird to finish it off. The next moment, he left the dying Staraptor to fall on the ground while he leaped onto the nearest branch. One last Staraptor was left, and it was right now attacking the Stygians, who seemed to do exceptionally well againist the fierce warriors of the Dark Cult; they were definitely winning, thanks to the element of surprise. Chantalai watched the battle unfold as more and more Stygians forced their way into the clearing, pushing their enemies out of it. He figured one Staraptor could be taken off without his help.

He took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on Ramos and his elite guards below him; they were fighting fiercely the attackers. Right then, the battle seemed to have gotten to a bit of a turn. The Stygians were now struggling to hold their position in the clearing while their enemies begun fighting vigoriously, blood from both sides being shed on the grass.

Time for our trump card, Chantalai thought as he unsheathed the pistol from his belt, immediately pointing at the Gengar five feet below him and pulling the trigger - there was no way he could miss. A loud sound cracked like thunder around the forest. Chantalai noticed the Dark Cult panicked; they had never heard something like a gunshot. But Ramos was seemingly unaffected by the shot. The next moment he sank into the ground, vanishing from sight, leaving his elite guards behind. The Zoroark smirked, figuring gunfire would leave every ghost Pokemon untouched, and scolded himself for not predicting it. Now Ramos was alive and well underground where there was no chance of following him.

Having failed in his primary task, he would now focus on the battle; he stared down at the elite Bisharp soldiers, keeping his calm. Even though he was still young, he had found inner peace through his studies of his father's martial art, and he would use it to the maximum. His armour reflected a beam of light as he leaped down, landing on one of the five Bisharps, slicing through his chest, the menacing red eyes momentarily found the black eyes, seeing the despair that death brought. He was careful not to touch any of the pointy parts of the soldier's body.

The Bisharp was laying on the ground as the other four attacked the Zoroark, considering him easy prey. It was like time stopped for Chantalai; he jerked his head to look his opponents in the eye, even if they were charging at him. His speed proved to be greater than the Bisharps; he grabbed the first one's steel arm and pulled it towards him while the claws of his other hand found their way through his steel body's spikes, slicing his ribs. He deflected the next Bisharp's steel hand with his bloodied claws and pushed him backwards, making him lose his balance; he quickly drew the pistol from his belt and fired, the two remaining Bisharps rooted in place, staring at what the Zoroark was holding, and then at their fallen ally, blood running down his face creating a pool in the ground.

They were skilled soldiers, though, and they quickly recovered from the shock of an object which brought instant death. The two of them surrounded the Zoroark who had put the pistol back in his belt and was now standing guard with his arm raised; he performed a taunting motion with his left hand's claws.

'What are you waiting for?' The Zoroark said with a faint, evil grin on his face. The battle was raging on without anybody noticing the two Bisharps and the Zoroark aside from it. The Bisharp in front of Chantalai charged at him, preparing a deadly strike with his steel claws, but he ducked in time to avoid his swing and slashed his gut with a nasty metallic sound, making him bend over. Then he jumped on the Bisharp's back, throwing him down face first and sliding his claws on his spine, but the other Bisharp behind Chantalai swung his arm, hitting the Zoroark on his right shoulder and pushing him aside from the Bisharp that was laying on the ground.

Chantalai grabbed his shoulder in pain. The evil grin had disappeared from his face, which now had a scared expression. His opponent approached him with the same cocky grin Chantalai had before; but he certainly was not aware of what's to come, what was hiding behind the Zoroark's fake expression. When the Bisharp was about one feet away, Chantalai's mouth cracked open, releasing a black smog which appeared to be his tongue; his eyes went black and the horrible scream from before was heard again as a huge, blazing Arbok made from black fire emerged from the Zoroark's mouth to attack the Birsharp who flinched in horror.

The Zoroark quickly got up, the black Arbok disappearing from sight. He pounced on his opponent's chest, throwing him down and sticking his claws in his eyes. The Pokemon underneath him stopped struggling againist his grasp after a while, finding a horrible death. Chantalai jerked his claws of the Bisharp's head, still leaning over him, he looked at the battle in front of him. The Stygians had won.

***

The Stygians had casualties, but the price was small to pay. Three hundred warriors of the Dark Cult had died and fourty natives had fallen with them, staining with blood the sparse forest. Soon, though, the snows of the cold winter would cover every corner of it, burrying everything under two feet of snow. Chantalai would not stay that long; but his job here was not finished. Ramos still lived, which meant trouble. While every Stygian returned to their camp happy about the outcome of the battle, praising Chantalai for his services, mourning the loss of their comrades. Chantalai was walking behind the bunch with a smirk, staring at the ground. He was angry with himself.

They reached the East Camp, everyone settled down next to the bonfires, taking off their armours, capes and flags. Chantalai found a patch of grass and sat down, with his claws still bloodied. Raskalov approached him and patted his back; he observed a massive wound running down his face, which had apparently been treated with some kind of healing fruit juice as it was blue. Raskalov stood above him, looking down to him.

'Good job, son. We crushed them, thanks to you!'

'Ramos is still alive. I suggest we march again today to crush their camp.'

'Now, now. We mustn't be greedy. We don't know how much army Ramos has exactly behind his camp's lines.'

Chantalai got up and walked away, ignoring the others who were feasting nearby. The Weavile ran behind him with a worried face on; he seemed much weaker without his golden armour on.

'Wait! Where are you going?'

'I'm going to finish what I started.'

***

A strange wind blew through the trees of the forest. It was getting dark, only the crimson light of planet Karnos lighting the night sky; the black figure racing atop the trees went unseen, unheard. The Dark Cult's camp was surrounded by pointy tree logs, just like the Stygian camp, but it was much bigger. Chantalai was spying on his enemies from above the trees, thinking he would have easy access with a simple leap onto those wooden houses they made; he just needed to find Ramos's house. But that wasn't too hard, as he saw Ramos entering the biggest of all houses, which was to the southernmost borders of the huge camp.

There weren't many Pokemon in the camp; give or take fifty soldiers Ramos had left behind. He was so sure they would win with only three hundred soldiers, but he hadn't even calculated the South Camp's forces that aided the East's. Not that they were much to worry about, but Chantalai was part of them. Chantalai was still angry with himself, but it only fueled his motivation. He stood on the branch with his ears perked up and his red eyes glowing in the darkness; he rushed and leaped forward towards the roof of a wooden house, landed softly and looked up. He was on top of the house which was right next to Commander Ramos's house, but it was too far away for Chantalai to make the leap.

The Zoroark stayed in an owling position right at the tip of the house's roof for about two hours, patiently waiting for his prey like a predator. He could not go inside the house without being noticed, and it did not have any windows for him to jump into. He observed the soldiers that were walking around closely; he thought their morale was completly shattered. When Ramos finally showed up, they had all gathered in front of his house to attend to a strategic council. Chantalai heard Ramos's unused voice as he spoke with two Bisharps next to him.

'Our Prophet has stated it clearly. We do not return to New Alamagna without winning the war of the Eastern Frontier - the gods will be angry with us, and we will have the fate our opponents in battle should have,' the Gengar paused, looking at his remaining soldiers, 'I am not aware of what happened back there. It could be a trick those natives cooked up...'

Meanwhile, the Zoroark had jumped from the roof into the shadows. The light from the two torches that were burning next to the entrance of Ramos's house did not reach the shadows behind the little army which had focused its attention on their Commander. Chantalai noticed had no other way to conceal himself in order to get closer; an illusion, a Tyranitar, replaced his original form. He stood behind the army without being noticed as Ramos continued blabbing. He subtly pushed the Pokemon in front of him, slowly walking forward; he was in the first line, after a while. His heart was racing; the whispers about this suspicious Tyranitar which was even more suspiciously small, spread across the Dark Cult's soldiers.

Ramos stared at him with a plain face, their red eyes met. The Zoroark's hand was engulfed in liquid darkness that stained the ground; the dark powers that were drawn directly by the Nether Plane were the most powerful ones. Only pure dark-type Pokemon like Zoroarks were able to cast them. Soon after, the illusion faded, Chantalai pouncing on the seemingly untouchable ghost Pokemon about two feet away from him. His hand found its way through Ramos's gas body, striking right into his soul and shrouding it with the darkness Chantalai had casted.

The Gengar vanished from sight with a scream, Chantalai kicked the elite Bisharp next to him in his knee, making him kneel; he slashed his face off and he fell backwards, screaming, Chantalai already countering the other attacking Bisharp and making him flinch. He stabbed him in the chest two times and pushed him back, now facing the army in front of him with a grin spread across his face; it had all happened too fast for them to understand what they had just seen. And before they could charge, the pure darkness he held in his hands shrouded him all over. It was then shot againist the Pokemon in front of him, and when it cleared off, the Zoroark was gone.